Well supplied with apricots and nectarines bought from a roadside stall, we headed over the Lewis Pass and into the Mackenzie Country. The Mackenzie Country is a flat, dry basin surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges. The Southern Alps to the west catch most of the rain, ensuring that the Mackenzie basin on the eastern side of the divide stays relatively dry. There are many beautiful lakes but little forest. Tussock grass covers the landscape.
Mackenzie Country at Dusk
Directly west of the Mackenzie Country is Mt Cook. Aoraki, which translates as 'Cloud Piercer', is its Maori name. At 3754m high, it is New Zealand’s highest mountain. The 27km long Hooker Glacier at its base feeds the turquoise-blue Lake Pukaki. We drove 50 km along the shore of Lake Pukaki to Mt Cook Village and did some short walks to get a good view of the mountain and the glacier. It is a raw alpine environment with very few established hiking tracks, so there’s not that much to do unless you’re a well-equipped mountaineer. Not like Switzerland, where you just choose a track and off you go! Happy to have seen the highest point in New Zealand, as well as the most southern tip of the South Island earlier in the trip, we turned around and set off for Christchurch.
Aoraki/Mt Cook
Lake Tekapo with the Southern Alps in the background
Church of the Good Shepherd beside Lake Tekapo
Mackenzie Country at Dusk
Directly west of the Mackenzie Country is Mt Cook. Aoraki, which translates as 'Cloud Piercer', is its Maori name. At 3754m high, it is New Zealand’s highest mountain. The 27km long Hooker Glacier at its base feeds the turquoise-blue Lake Pukaki. We drove 50 km along the shore of Lake Pukaki to Mt Cook Village and did some short walks to get a good view of the mountain and the glacier. It is a raw alpine environment with very few established hiking tracks, so there’s not that much to do unless you’re a well-equipped mountaineer. Not like Switzerland, where you just choose a track and off you go! Happy to have seen the highest point in New Zealand, as well as the most southern tip of the South Island earlier in the trip, we turned around and set off for Christchurch.
Aoraki/Mt Cook
Lake Tekapo with the Southern Alps in the background
Church of the Good Shepherd beside Lake Tekapo
1 comment:
Do you know the story of "MARK INGLIS" the kiwi who lost his two legs on mount cook and then climb the ereverst? I met him last year in Hong Kong, great man.
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